In what looks like the first shots of a new tablet content war, Barnes and Noble has instructed its stores to remove the physical copies of the 100 graphic novels DC Comics plans to sell exclusively through the new Amazon Kindle Fire tablet. But an L.A. Times story on the controversy reports that the “exclusive” DC/Kindle Fire agreement was likely only a limited four month deal.

The L.A. Times is reporting that DC’s agreement to sell 100 graphic novels “exclusively” through the Amazon kindle Fire was really limited to four months.  Now it appears that DC Comics plans to “swallow” the loss of sales at B&N physical stores for the next four months before offering its graphic novels for sale through all digital sales channels.
 
A spokesperson for DC Entertainment, the parent company of DC Comics, declined to comment on the length of their “exclusive” deal with Amazon. However, DC Entertainment released a statement that said, “We are disappointed that Barnes & Noble has made the decision to remove these books off their shelves and make them unavailable to their customers.”
 
And in what appears to be an acknowledgement that the Amazon Kindle Fire deal will be coming to an end, DC Entertainment added that, “ we will continue to make our content available to our fans and new readers through multiple distribution channels including locally-owned comic book retailers, independent bookstores, other bookstore chains and other widespread means such as online through Amazon and through our apps on iOS and select Android powered devices as well as new and exciting devices going forward.”